Kinnocks entitled to 'six state pensions', think tank report finds
Lord Kinnock and his wife, Glenys, have amassed six public sector pensions worth a total of £185,000 per year, according to an analysis by a think tank.
Open Europe claimed they have so far received up to £8 million in pay and allowances – Lord Kinnock as a European commissioner and his wife as a member of the European parliament.
A spokesman for the Kinnocks admitted the couple will be entitled to six pensions, three of which they are already claiming, but described the report's figures as "inflated estimates".
Mrs Kinnock, 64, the new Europe minister, collects a teacher's pension, worth £2,568.46 in the 2008-09 financial year.
From next month, when she turns 65, the analysis states she is entitled to another from Brussels with an estimated annual value of £48,000.
She is simultaneously drawing a ministerial salary of £83,275 and she is entitled to a further ministerial pension.
Her basic pension from her time as an MEP is said to be worth £19,730 a year, but, as a minister of state, she will not draw this money.
The think tank has calculated that Lord Kinnock receives a pension of £83,089 for his service as European transport commissioner between 1995 and 1999 and vice-president of the commission from 1999 to 2004.
In the 2008-09 financial year, he received a further £28,936.43 a year for his 25 years as an MP, including time as leader of the opposition.
Open Europe said the couple claimed a total of £6 million in staff and salary allowances during their time in Brussels, £1.7 million less than the maximum to which they were entitled.
A spokesman for the Kinnocks said: "All payments to Glenys Kinnock, including the salary to which she was entitled as an MEP, staffing allowances and office expenses, were received exactly the same as all UK MEPs.
"The Open Europe figures appear to be inflated estimates, they should not be presented as those of Glenys Kinnock during her 15 years as an MEP."
And they say politicians are underpaid.
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